There are four einherjar in total, each with a different type of elemental management. It feels incredibly satisfying to bring them out and fight alongside them to cut down larger foes like a general calling the cavalry into battle. They can’t die so you don’t need to worry about them as they lay waste to your enemies. While AI partners have a spotty history in RPGs, I can safely say the Einherjar is the best part of the game. Her other skill is to summon her Einherjar, who will fight alongside you in the battle for a short period of time as AI-controlled partners. The first is skill-based magic which allows her to summon different elemental attacks like fire, lighting, or healing. Outside of physical prowess, Valkyrie can use two kinds of magic. Not to mention, it’s quite nice having a more light hack and slash where you can just cathartically wail on the AI every now and then. The combat overall it’s not quite as complex as something like Devil May Cry but there’s enough here to make the game challenging to master and keep fights fresh with new abilities. They even allow you to demo each new move in a tutorial if you want to try them out before a proper battle. Just from looking at them, you can instantly understand how they work, what they do, and what you need to make the upgrades. I like how accessible and self-explanatory these upgrade systems are. You upgrade both of these systems using a number of different gems that enemies drop when you kill them. You can also upgrade Valkyrie’s stats such as health, power, and magic using a skill tree in the main menu. You can upgrade your different weapons at the save points located throughout each map which will unlock further moves to try out. There are two types of upgrades in the game. These are incredibly satisfying to pull off and are implemented seamlessly into the battles Pulling this off properly will also reward you with more health, spirit, and skill points that allow you to use your magic.Īnother cool mechanic is the fatal blows that allow you to attack a downed enemy with a dynamic cinematic finishing blow. This involves dodging just before the enemies hit which slows down time and allows you to get in more combos in ( Zelda BOTW and No More Heroes 3 have similar features). Right from the start, it’s pretty easy to string combos together but as the game goes on it’ll expect you to incorporate more into your arsenal, particularly the quick dodging. The combat feels fast-paced and smooth with no frame drops or glitching. You start off with one weapon, a broadsword but gain access to more as the game continues. You have a light and medium attack as well as a jump and dodge button that upon upgrading can be used to perform new attacks, quick dodging, and counterattacks. What it lacks in story and characters, Valkyrie Elysium makes up for in its frenetic hack and slash style gameplay. There were some good ideas here like Valkyrie bonding with the einherjar but they’re just not given enough screen time to flesh them out. In particular, towards the end, it became pretty predictable and the conclusions felt rushed. Overall the story felt pretty cliched, and underdeveloped. You also get hints of the different Einherjar’s backstory when you recruit them but once again it’s very fleeting with the only true explanation coming from their in-game biography, something that a lot of players may not even read. Valkyrie herself seems to undergo an arc about becoming more human and regaining her emotions but she’s so overly stoic throughout the adventure that it’s hard to really see it. None of the characters get a lot of development. There are even times when characters seemingly change personalities out of nowhere to accommodate where they need to be in the story. While the game has a lot of cutscenes, the writing feels rushed with characters briefly explaining their backstories before going into more generic quips and quotes. The main gameplay loop is that Odin gives you a mission and you go out to carry it out, running into new Einherjar, and a couple of other characters along the way. The game has nine chapters, totaling around 15-20 hours of playtime. Follow won’t mince words, the story of Valkyrie Elysium is pretty barebones.
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